James Conner was “injury prone” until he wasn’t. After finally stabilizing his health mid-career, Conner arrived in Arizona and posted the back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons that had always eluded him in Pittsburgh. It was a valedictory accomplishment for a player who had always deserved better — and was still going.
Sadly that will not be the case for the remainder of 2025. The victim of a gruesome ankle injury against the 49ers, Conner’s season is done. Frankly, the same could be true for his career. This is a traumatic orthopedic issue, and at the worst possible moment for a 30-year-old running back. At the very least, Conner’s time as a regular fantasy contributor is probably at an end. If he can make yet another 2026 comeback — and history suggests he will — Conner will probably be part of a more strict committee.
Committees are what Trey Benson has been trying to rise above. He hadn’t had much success behind Conner for the first 16 games of his career, but he doesn’t have a choice now. Of course, Benson was already more involved this season, playing over 33 percent of the snaps in Weeks 1 and 2 after that number was 16.6 for his rookie year. It will now rocket into the 65-75 range, and perhaps even higher depending on how Arizona wants to deploy perpetual fantasy nuisance Emari Demercado.
This is the first big running back change of 2025. It won’t be anywhere close to the last, but it’s a good time to empty the FAAB clip if you are in one of the shallower leagues where Benson remains available, or perhaps had already been dropped after his quiet start. There is no guarantee of success with a young player who had yet to really force his way onto the field, but Benson will be given every opportunity. We can be cautiously optimistic he takes advantage of it.
Five Week 3 Storylines
CeeDee Lamb injures ankle, injures it again, says he might play through it. The rain basically never stopped coming down in buckets in Dallas after last year’s “pours” campaign, but Lamb’s injury somehow takes the deluge to another level. True to form, Lamb has vowed to try to remain on the field. He did so last year after suffering a shoulder injury, but the lower body presents an entirely different set of issues for an explosive wideout. Lamb will probably be forced to miss Week 4 against the Packers, but could be back as soon as Week 5 against the Jets. Now, would that actually be a good thing? Traditionally it’s not. Lamb will be at extreme risk of re-injury and could be more of a decoy than actual alpha. But since he’s an actual alpha, he’s unlikely to opt for four games on injured reserve. Stay tuned.
Mike Evans suffers yet another hamstring injury. If you google “Mike Evans injury history,” you will get a lot of dots on his hamstring. It’s time to add another. Evans’ return timelines have been all over the map, but he’s never missed more than three games in a season. Of course, he’s now 32 years old. Emeka Egbuka is percolating, Chris Godwin (ankle) is about to return. The Bucs are 3-0 after a rugged start to the season. With their eyes on the bigger picture in the soft NFC South, caution figures to take the day. Like Lamb, Evans will do everything in his power to get back as soon as possible, but he will probably be sidelined for at least one contest, and perhaps as many as three. With Godwin almost back, Sterling Shepard probably isn’t worth an add in the interim.
Bengals flunk first post-Burrow test with extreme prejudice. Well that’s not going to work. Five turnovers. A pick-six. A fumble-six. Zero running game. A bad matchup became a worst nightmare for an offense that was looking dysfunctional even before it lost its superstar quarterback. There is very little time to course correct ahead of another brutal Week 4 road matchup with the Broncos. There’s a slight Week 5 defensive letup with the Lions, but little chance of this offense matching points. Comeback game script will not be this team’s friend. Then there’s another stay on the pain train in Week 6 in Green Bay. Expectations were already low. They deserve to be through the floor after Sunday’s fiasco. Ja’Marr Chase is a volatile WR1. Tee Higgins is a WR3. Chase Brown is plummeting down the RB2 ranks but not falling out altogether since there is no one else to give the ball to. Hopefully this was the low point. Just don’t be surprised if it’s an extended valley.
Carson Wentz easily passes first post-McCarthy test. While Jake Browning was flailing, Wentz was coasting. He attempted just 20 passes but found the end zone on twice of them. The second was with the Vikings already leading 41-3. #AsEpxected, Wentz was more willing and able to improvise and play pitch-and-catch with his No. 1 receiver. Justin Jefferson was the intended target on seven of his 20 throws. Now Wentz gets a Jordan Addison reinforcement for this week’s Irish road trip (and subsequent stay on old Albion for Week 5). One game against a horrendous defense, etc. … it is still a test when you’re Carson Wentz. The fact that he aced it will create louder, more persistent questions if he keeps the momentum going against the Steelers. J.J. McCarthy’s immediate future is very much in the balance. Fantasy managers probably need to be rooting for the wily veteran.
Russell Wilson leaves ‘em chanting for Jaxson Dart. Last and most definitely least on the Week 3 quarterback carousel was Wilson. If you didn’t see it, it would be difficult to describe Wilson’s end-of-game theatrics against the Chiefs. He called his own number on a zone read, grounded out the back of the end zone, hit … the uprights pole? On fourth down? In between the crowd never stopped calling for Dart. The G-Men clearly believe they are protecting their high-variance rookie by keeping him on the sideline rather than plopping him down behind a shaky offensive line against a brutal slate of opponents, but this center will not hold much longer, perhaps even for Week 4 against the Chargers. Consider the inevitable development a high-risk blessing if you’re a Malik Nabers manager. You’ll take it since there’s no floor left in Russellville.
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Five More Week 3 Storylines
Omarion Hampton takes control of Chargers’ backfield following Najee Harris’ achilles injury. We were settling in for a pitched touches battle when Harris settled it the old fashioned way: By getting injured. It was an unlikely outcome for a player who entered Week 3 having never missed a game. Perhaps he should have. It’s fair to wonder if Harris’ summer absence following his eye injury and relative lack of conditioning played a role in his achilles pop. It doesn’t matter now. Harris is out for the season and in a dark place in his career. It’s now all on Hampton. Or so we hope. Hampton, as you may have read, isn’t exactly off to a sterling start. So it was a good sign the coaching staff didn’t flinch following Harris’ injury. Now, things are different with an in-game injury vs. having a week to game plan. Hassan Haskins or Kimani Vidal will probably get involved for Week 4. But not to the extent Hampton can be faded out of the top 18. This is a second lease on rookie re-draft life for a first-year pro who badly needed it.
Patriots backfield descends into full-blown chaos. It took three combined fumbles from Rhamondre Stevenson and Antonio Gibson, but TreVeyon Henderson got back on the field. Will he stay there? It was another uninspiring performance for the second-round rookie, with equally uninspiring usage from play-caller Josh McDaniels. New England seems to have little idea how to deploy its promising young runner. I would like to think Stevenson and Gibson’s miscues give them no choice, but Stevenson is no stranger to rebounding from fumbling. He will be back out there for Week 4 against the Panthers. Henderson had the chance to return himself to the RB2 ranks. It turned out the best he could do was re-establish volatile FLEX status.
Everyone gets a chance in new-look Commanders backfield. With Austin Ekeler (achilles) done for the season, it wasn’t as simple as “Bill.” Jacory Croskey-Merritt still handled under 40 percent of the Commanders’ snaps. It was a new career best 39.7 percent, but that is not what RB2 desperados were hoping for. It was also barely ahead of Chris Rodriguez’s 37.9 mark. Curious since the Commanders didn’t even see fit to activate “C-Rod” for Weeks 1 and 2, but hardly out of character for an NFL coaching staff. Kliff Kingsbury and company clearly believe JCM is best deployed as a part-time package player. The results on that usage have been promising enough to suggest he deserves more work, but fantasy managers need to consider him a part-time FLEX until they see something else.
Woody Marks makes another move in Texans backfield. Marks was a rare Week 2 bright spot for the Texans and remained so in Week 3 as he got closer to 50 percent of the snaps. He was on the field almost as often as Nick Chubb, but got out-touched 12-7. Marks isn’t about to seize the early-down lead from Chubb, but he has to get more involved as a receiver. Nothing is easy for this offense, and little is simpler than checking down to the running back. Unlike Dare Ogunbowale, Marks might actually do something with the looks. Marks hasn’t yet attained viable FLEX status, but he’s proven he is deserving of a bench spot ahead of bye week season.
Tre Tucker scores three touchdowns for some reason. The “for some reason” is Geno Smith loves boundary wideouts, but … come on man. Listen, having a big day should never be considered a bad thing, but Tucker somehow being the No. 1 producer speaks to the identity crisis in this offense. They can’t get the ball to easy-button target Brock Bowers, and they can’t run at all. Smith is living and dying with his complicated “saga snaps” where he dodges oncoming rushers and tries to make things happen down the field. It would be admirable if it weren’t all dying instead of living the past two weeks. Any time a wideout goes 8/145/3, you add them. But you’ve been playing this game long enough to know this isn’t going to last.
Questions
1. Is Russell Wilson ok?
2. Tyquan Thornton is the No. 1 option for the best football player on the planet?
3. Have the 14-3 2024 Vikings have reincarnated as the 2025 Colts?
Early Waivers Look (Players rostered in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
QB: Matthew Stafford (vs. IND), Geno Smith (vs. CHI), Sam Darnold (@AZ), Carson Wents (vs. PIT in Ireland), Jaxson Dart (potential Russell Wilson benching)
RB: Trey Benson (52 percent rostered), Woody Marks, Tyjae Spers, Ollie Gordon II, Jeremy McNichols, Chris Rodriguez Jr., Zavier Scott
WR: Brandon Aiyuk, Darnell Mooney, Romeo Doubs, Elic Ayomanor, Tyquan Thornton, Kayshon Boutte, Tre Tucker, Dontayvion Wicks, Malik Washington
TE: Isaiah Likely, Brenton Strange, Chig Okonkwo, Harold Fannin Jr.,
DEF: Texans (vs. TEN), Lions (vs. CLE), Chargers (@NYG), Commanders (@ATL), Patriots (vs. CAR)
Stats of the Week
Third. That’s where Ladd McConkey finds himself in Chargers targets through three weeks. Small sample size, etc. The reality is, McConkey now has legitimate target competition, where a year ago he did not. Spiked week corrections are inevitably coming, but McConkey is probably more of a lower-end WR2 than the high-end option he was drafted as.
19.0. That’s Alec Pierce’s yards per reception through three games with supposedly deep-ball averse Daniel Jones at the helm. Unfortunately, he suffered his third documented concussion as a pro on Sunday, and could be looking at a multi-week absence following his hot start.
Speaking of Jones … The Dimesman entered 2025 averaging 6.6 yards per attempt for his career. He has now managed at least 9.0 yards per pass in each of his first three starts as a Colt.
2.0, 8.1, 2.4 Those are Kenneth Walker III’s yards per carry through his first three appearances of the season. Ever volatile, KWIII has been even more so behind the Seahawks’ sieve-like offensive line. With or without Zach Charbonnet in the lineup, this is committed to being a wild ride.
First. That’s Quinshon Judkins yardage ranking amongst rookie runners. Doing so in only two games in an awful offense on limited practice reps speaks to both Judkins’ talent level and the Browns’ commitment level. He’s an RB2 going forward despite game script concerns.
Awards Section
Week 3 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Caleb Williams, RB Jonathan Taylor, RB Christian McCaffrey, WR Tre Tucker (?), WR Garrett Wilson, WR Courtland Sutton, TE Hunter Henry
Week 3 All Bank Examiner Squad: QB Bo Nix, RB Ashton Jeanty, RB Chase Brown, WR Malik Nabers, WR Ladd McConkey, WR Tee Higgins, TE Travis Kelce
The Maybe Just Do That All The Time Award: The Eagles in the second half against the Rams.
Michael Jordan Flu Game of the Week: Graham Gano doubling over in pain after kicking a 25-yard field goal.
The Are These Really Necessary? Award: The NFL’s southern divisions.
Titans Tweet of the Week, from Jim Wyatt: It’s no good from 64 @Titans